Malaysia must maintain winning momentum against Singapore – Kim Swee

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must continue their winning momentum against Singapore in their Kuala Lumpur SEA Games (KL2017) Group A football competition today to remain on track for the gold.

Another three full points from today's match would open up a more comfortable path for Datuk Ong Kim Swee's boys to make the semifinals after having beaten Brunei 2-1 Monday.

Singapore under coach Richard Francis Emile Tardy will be fielding his best eleven to claim three vital points for his team after being disappointed by 2013 finalists, Myanmar 2-0 in their Group A opener Monday.

In the match today, Singapore's 18-year-old striker Ikhsan Fandi would be among the marked men by Malaysia's defence.

Ikhsan, the son of Singapore football icon Fandi Ahmad, is described as a natural striker capable of making lighting dashes and with his gifted ball control could cause great damage at the goal.

However, Kim Swee who succeeded in bringing the national squad to victory in the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia would have to harness his extensive experience to deal with the young Singaporean side who last entered the final 28 years ago.

Today's match will be the sixth clash between the two countries in the biennial Games in 20 years with statistics showing Malaysia and Singapore claiming a win each and ending up in draws in the last three encounters.

In the 1999 edition in Brunei, Malaysia lost 1-2 to Singapore in a group match but beat them 2-0 in Vietnam four years later.

The two teams drew in the 2007, 2011 and 2013 editions of the Games.

After the match against Singapore, the national squad will be facing Myanmar on Aug 21 before completing their group fixture against Laos on Aug 23.

All Malaysia's matches will be played at Shah Alam Stadium starting at 8.45pm. - Bernama